Israeli troops deployed in Silwan to search for weapons, find nothing

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Israeli troops and special forces backed by choppers stormed the Silwan town, south of occupied Jerusalem, on Wednesday and were deployed in Batn Al-Hawa and Ein Bir Ayub suburbs, local sources said.

They said that tension ran high in the town as they feared a wave of demolition of local homes in the process.

Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the committee defending the land of Silwan, said that Israeli soldiers occupied rooftops of Palestinian homes in Silwan and deployed large numbers of forces at the entrances to the town and inside its suburbs.

The Israeli army command claimed that the operation was meant to search for weapons but did not declare finding any.

Local sources in Bustan suburb reported that the soldiers barged into the sit-in tent pitched to protest land and property confiscation on part of the Israeli occupation authority and used hounds in searching homes in the company of intelligence elements.